[Paul] Ryan’s argument inverts all this. It puts political positionsfirst and character and morality second. Sure Trump’s a scoundrel,but he might agree with our tax proposal. Sure, he is a racist,but he might like our position on the defense budget.Policy agreement can paper over a moral chasm. . .

The classic conservative belief, by contrast, is that characteris destiny. Temperament is foundational. Each candidate has tocross some basic threshold of dependability as a human beingbefore it’s even relevant to judge his or her policy agenda.Trump doesn’t cross that threshold. . .

Trump, by his very essence, undermines cooperation, reciprocity,solidarity, stability or any other component of unity. He is alone operator, a disloyal diva, who is incapable of horizontalrelationships. He has demeaned and humiliated everybody whohas tried to be his friend. . .

Some conservatives believe they can educate, convert or civilizeTrump. This belief is a sign both of intellectual arroganceand psychological naïveté.

The man who just crushed them is in no mood to submit to them.Furthermore, Trump’s personality is pathological. . .

He has always behaved exactly as he does now: the constant flowof insults, the endless bragging, the casual cruelty, the needto destroy allies and hog the spotlight. “Donald was the childwho would throw the cake at the birthday parties,” his brotherRobert once said.

Psychologists are not supposed to diagnose candidates from afar,but there is a well-developed literature on narcissism thattracks with what we have seen of Trump. . .

Unable to know themselves, or truly love themselves, they hunger fora never-ending supply of admiration from outside. They act at alltimes like they are performing before a crowd and cannot restunless they are in the spotlight.

To make decisions, these narcissists create a rigid set of externalstandards, often based around admiration and contempt. Their valuingcriteria are based on simple division — winners and losers, victoryor humiliation. They are preoccupied with luxury, appearance oranything that signals wealth, beauty, power and success. . .

Incapable of understanding themselves, they are also incapable ofhaving empathy for others. . . Other people are simply to be putto use as suppliers of admiration or as victims to be crushed aspart of some dominance display. . .====